India:  UP police's special task force (STF) arrested a smuggler along with 27 kg dried turtle's calipee, a substance found above a turtle's lower shell, from Kanpur Central railway station on Friday.

The accused was identified as Salim Sheikh of Malda, West Bengal. The calipee is worth several lakh rupees, said STF officials. 1 kg of calipee, 

Divisional forest officer, Kanpur range, SS Srivastava said that the calipee is from two species of turtles. One is from Ganges soft shell turtle and the other is from peacock soft shell turtle with both species coming under section 2 of The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. These turtles thrive in Ganga plains formed by its various tributaries.

ASP (STF) Arvind Chaturvedi said that Sheikh had purchased the calipee from Etah, Mainpuri, Kanpur and Auraiya districts. He was going to take it to Malda from where the calipee is sent to Hong Kong, Malaysia, Bangladesh. Calipee is also used in manufacturing medicines and various cosmetics.

(Source: The Times of India)